Innovative and Interactive Public Involvement for the 21st Century2015 Partnering Conference

Brian Aldridge, Stantec Charlie Allen, KYTC District 4

Annette Coffey, Qk4Sreenu Gutti, CO Planning

Shane Mckenzie, CO PlanningJeff Moore, KYTC District 3

Workshop Agenda

• State of the Practice: Public Involvement in the 21st Century

• Panel Discussion• KYTC District Office• KYTC Central Office• Consultants (Qk4 and Stantec)

• Activity: “We all scream for Ice Cream!” – Sticker Dot Exercise– $100 question Exercise

The Five “I’s” of Public Involvement

Public Involvement Beatitude

Blessed are the flexible for

they will not get bent out of

shape.

Panel Discussion:

In regards to the public involvement methods used in the US 68 (Metcalfe/Green) or US 31W/KY 446 Planning Studies and how the data collected informed the decision-making process-----

What were the lessons learned?

The only mistake in life is the lesson not learned. -- Albert Einstein

IDENTIFY & INVITE: Know Your Audience!

A Short Presentation Goes a Long Way

Give Meeting Attendees a “Job”

http://www.glasgowdailytimes.com/

Outreach Techniques in getting the word out

– Variable Message Signs• Display 2-3 weeks before meeting

– Information Fliers or Brochures• Distribute at local businesses, public gatherings, etc.

– Media Outreach• Newspapers, Radio, KYTC website•

– Postcards• Send to impacted property owners

– Video meeting invitation • “Call to Action” video -

NEW LIFE, NEW FUTURE

Do everything you can to get the word out!

INFORM:“MAKE NO ASSUMPTIONS!”

• Two public meetings (Charlie A.); Meeting 1: Issues & Concerns

* Provided a general overview of existing conditions and identified obvious issues. * Allowed time for local officials and public to markup a map which resulted in 5 basic areas of concern for our corridor.

– Meeting 2: Alternatives & Improvements * The 5 areas helped us to identify 12 spot improvements and one off alignment option.* Provided visualizations of each.

INFORM:“MAKE NO ASSUMPTIONS!”

Never assume the data tells the whole story. The locals know where the issues are and may offer great solutions.

Visuals should be conceptual and not appear to create a perception that an alignment has been determined.

Use more transparent shading of an area instead of defined lines.

Enough detail to assist with decision making and developing estimates but it’s too early in the process to create property owner concern.

INFORM:“MAKE NO ASSUMPTIONS!”

Preparing the team• Meeting flow in space:

– Give clear instructions at beginning • Take 20 minutes just before meeting and gather the team:

– “Open question and answer session” to brief the team on meeting details such as:• Task assignments: Greeters, Educators, Scribes, Map interpreters• Who among the team subject matter experts are to field specific

questions from the public.– Coach the team to engage and encourage dialogue with the public

• Write it down• Draw• Point

INFORM:“MAKE NO ASSUMPTIONS!”

Preparing the team • Meeting presentations:– Need two versions• Long form – continuous unmanned PowerPoint on

loop• Short form – Live presentation

• Present the project details in more than one way and man the room with well informed team members who are ready for a friendly and engaging information exchange with the public.

Electronic SurveysGive Them a Job!

INVOLVE:

Start Thinking Early

Know what input you need and ask the right questions!

Discuss questions with the Project TeamCheck your questions against the Purpose and

Need for the project.Collect email addresses

Inform: Prep their Participation

Project Purpose and Need Where you are in the process. Why you are collecting information. What you are going to do with it.

Questions Mirror your electronic and paper survey Start with basic information

Who are they? Is it important to know their age?Do they travel the corridor?Do they even live in the county?

Ask yourself what do you want to know from them?Cemeteries Family clusters Farmers – in case you need a larger roundaboutAlignment preference

Make it easy! Give them Quick checkbox choices!

Remember Keep it simple - 6-8 questionsGive them options but do not lead Leave a short blank for “other”…at the

end of each question….. Minimize essay questions “Catchall” essay question at the end Provide your contact and phone number

Enhancements

Use a sliding scale of at least 1 to 5. Always specify how to use it. Include maps and pictures % Complete at the bottom of each page. Ask them to join a mailing list

Advertise the Survey

Website/URL in presentations, Newspaper, TV, radio, Paper surveys, Post cards Emails, and takeaways

Send and Follow-up

Send a quick email with hyperlinks using Sharefile, Dropbox, ftp site

Follow up with a reminder! Enter your completed/mailed-in paper

surveys into the electronic survey instrument for easier summaries.

Lessons LearnedTest Case - Resource Agency Coordination

Let’s do it electronically!Developed a survey to determine what survey

method was best!Still two methods

Hard copy letter (traditional) & Electronic survey (tailored)They were not the same.

Lessons LearnedTest Case - Resource Agency Coordination

Hard copy More difficult to summarize, report out, and compare when questions were not the

same. Seemed to receive more “canned” letters Most did not go to the survey link in the letter Sometimes received copy and paste paragraphs for other projects

Electronic copy Easier Killed a lot less trees Electronic responses were informal, timely, efficient for the sender and effective. Must track email addresses and save as pdfs!

Easy to send reminders through email We received 9 responses after the deadline with just a quick reminder email and a

link to the survey. Set your deadline to be flexible.

Don’t forget the simple things Name, Title, representing and type of agency!

Activity: “We All Scream for Ice Cream!”

– Sticker Dot Exercise• Select your most favorite (GREEN dot)• Select your second favorite (ORANGE dot)• Select your least favorite (PINK dot)

– $100 question Exercise• If you were given 10 CENTS to purchase the container

and the toppings for your ice cream, then how would you spend your 10 CENTS?

Follow-up Discussion

• Each of the two “work-groups” will report out to the session participants their thoughts on the tools and applications.